Bellone: COVID-19 death toll reaches 30 in Suffolk County
Bellone says there are 3,385 positive COVID-19 cases in Suffolk County and the trajectory is going up.
News 12 Staff
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Mar 27, 2020, 5:23 PM
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Updated 1,481 days ago
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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone stressed the importance of social distancing during his COVID-19 update on Friday after announcing that the death toll has reached 30 residents.
Bellone said eight recent deaths were patients with underlying health conditions. Six were in their 80s, one was in their 90s and one was in his 40s.
The county executive says that there is a total of 3,385 positive cases of COVID-19 in Suffolk and the trajectory is going up. There are 331 patients in hospitals and 119 in intensive care. Bellone says the county’s priority is to reduce deaths and to make sure “our hospital system can withstand what is coming” – referring to a surge in patients expected in the weeks ahead.
Bellone says he agreed with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to keep students out of schools until at least April 15. He says schools are still doing their part to provide child care and meals to students. He announced the launch of the Suffolk Child Care Consortium, which will provide support to essential workers on the front lines of reducing the spread of COVID-19.
He also announced that nonessential construction projects are being shut down for the foreseeable future.
Bellone says he will be out of his home quarantine beginning on Monday.
Notes from today’s COVID-19 updates are below:
- Bellone says there are more than 8,000 cases of COVID-19 on Long Island.
- 18 Suffolk County officers have tested positive for COVID-19, one has been hospitalized.
- Bellone says there are 3,385 positive COVID-19 cases in Suffolk County and the trajectory is going up.
- There are 331 hospitalizations in Suffolk, a figure that has doubled in the last three days. There are also 119 ICU patients. Bellone says there were 50 earlier this week.
- Bellone announced the death of eight more Suffolk County residents due to COVID-19. They each had underlying health conditions.
- There have been 30 deaths so far in the county.
- There are 305 ICU beds available in the county. Bellone says more need to be prepared for the oncoming surge of cases.
- Bellone says he agrees with Gov. Cuomo's decision to keep schools closed until at least April 15.
- Bellone says the primary objective is to reduce deaths and "make sure our hospital system can withstand what is coming."
- Bellone says he worked with Suffolk schools on a free emergency child care program that has already launched for the essential workforce.
- It's called the Suffolk Child Care Consortium. It's open Monday-Friday to provide assistance to employees who are on the front lines fighting to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The program is open for enrollment and is being run by SCOPE Education Services. Twelve school districts are participating.
- Bellone: "Nonessential construction must now be shut down." He says that priority is being shifted to emergency projects only and that it will help reduce social density.
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